This project began as a volunteer's suggestion to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) that they restore the Hague, an urban waterway in downtown Norfolk.  We partnered with CBF to monitor the success of their initiative.  The project originally took the form of a typical undergraduate research project, but has found new perspective in course related projects.  The initial work focused on water quality monitoring with a focus on total phosphorus and chlorophyll-a.  Since the oysters were transplanted last fall, water quality monitoring has continued, and has been supplemented by trace metal analysis of water, sediment and oyster tissues.  Preliminary comparison of trace metals found that significant distinctions are apparent between native oysters and farm-raised transplants.  This spring, related projects evolved in upper level courses: 1) using CVAFS to analyze tissues for mercury, and 2) using SEM and EDS to investigate the composition of the oyster shells.  Due to the long-term nature of the project, efforts to integrate this work into analytical and introductory chemistry labs have also being initiated, and will be discussed.

Oyster restoration: An expanding undergraduate research project in and out of the classroom

245th National Meeting (2013)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.